Revelers Soar Over Flight
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Jan. 2 -- Isaac Fontaine scored 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and NBDL Player of the Month Derek Hood scored five of the Revelers' nine points in overtime to lead Mobile to an 85-82 overtime victory over the Flight at the Von Braun Center.
"Our starters didn’t come out and set the pace from the beginning so we go into a dogfight early," said Mobile coach Sam Vincent. "We stepped it up late in the game and were able to pull off the win in overtime."
Fontaine led five Revelers in double figures, including Anthony Johnson (13), Rashad Phiilips (12), Dwayne Schintzius (11) and Hood (11). Mobile shot 50 percent or better for the third time in four games versus Huntsville as they connected on 50.7 percent (34-67) of their shot attempts. The Flight shot just 42.9 percent (27-63).
"We talked about our lack of intensity in the first half and early in the third quarter and the guys responded," said Flight coach Bob Thornton. "We just made a couple of mistakes in overtime and it hurt us."
Jimmie Hunter led the Flight in scoring with 18 points. Jason Heide came off the bench to score 14 and David Crouse added 11 points and six rebounds.
After starting the game with nine healthy bodies, the Flight played much of the second half without starting power forward Shelly Clark, who experienced soreness in his back. Clark, the Flight’s leading rebounder and second leading scorer, was limited six points and five rebounds in just 21 minutes -- 12 shy of his 32.2 minutes per game average.
Down 55-40 with 4:32 left in the third quarter, the Flight ran off 21 of the game’s next 27 points to tie the score at 61-all with 6:23 remaining. Mobile led 76-73 with time running out before Flight guard Tyrone Ellis knotted the game at 76-all on a three-pointer with just :02.9 left on the clock.
"It’s tough to put us away," said Thornton. "We are one of the best teams in this league and we are starting to turn the corner. This is still a developmental team with developmental players but we are learning how to fight back and win some close games late."
The teams meet again tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. CT at the Mobile Civic Center. Mobile leads the season series 3-1.
Mobile (15-7) moved a full game ahead of idle North Charleston while the Flight (7-13) saw its two-game win streak come to an end.
